Blow to Bendigo Health budget

BLAIR THOMSON6 Dec 2012, 1 a.m.

JOBS will be lost at Bendigo Health, beds will close and surgery waiting lists will grow rapidly after “totally unacceptable” federal funding cuts, according to Bendigo Health chief executive John Mulder.

Blow to Bendigo Health budget

JOBS will be lost at Bendigo Health, beds will close and surgery waiting lists will grow rapidly after “totally unacceptable” federal funding cuts, according to Bendigo Health chief executive John Mulder.

The hospital’s current financial year budget has lost $2.9 million and will have to find $500,000 in savings each month.

Mr Mulder said it was unacceptable and disappointing to be surprised by the changes, especially in the lead-up to Christmas with 3500 staff left unsure of their employment.

He said the cuts were delivered with only “a few days’ notice”.

He said he wasn’t sure how many staff would lose their jobs but that the impact would be “significant” across all areas of the hospital.

“When 70 per cent of your costs are made up of salaries and wages, and someone has removed 2 per cent of your budget, it’s clear this must impact significantly on staff numbers,” he said.

“Never have cuts of such magnitude been applied with such little notice. We are only given a few days’ notice and expected to deliver almost $3 million in savings over the next six months.” Victorian Health Minister David Davis recently said the federal government would slash $106.7 million from Victorian hospital budgets this financial year.